Schett on Vukov: "He completely brainwashed Rybakina".

Adrien Guyot

le 25/02/2025 à 14h52

2 min to read

Ivanisevic Rybakina

Elena Rybakina's start to the season has been satisfactory in terms of results.

The Kazakh, ranked 7th in the world, reached the semi-finals in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, after reaching the second week at the Australian Open. But off the court, Rybakina is not in the quietest period of her career.

After parting company with her coach Stefano Vukov during the US Open last September, Rybakina began working with Djokovic's former coach Goran Ivanisevic in January.

But the association didn't last, and the 2001 Wimbledon winner confirmed that he would not be continuing the adventure with Rybakina.

Meanwhile, rumours of Vukov's return to the 25-year-old's team had resurfaced, as the Croatian coach was suspended for a year by the WTA for alleged psychological abuse, harassment and insults received by the Wimbledon 2022 winner.

Barbara Schett, a former Austrian professional tennis player and now a consultant for Eurosport, had this to say about Vukov.

"In my opinion, he has completely brainwashed Elena Rybakina. You can see how he treats her and how he talks to her.

Things got worse during the US Open 2024. We know she has certain periods of mental ups and downs, probably because of him. He abused her mentally, and that's why the WTA suspended him.

Elena has always said that Vukov never behaved badly towards her, but it's because of his brainwashing!

I talked to Goran Ivanisevic about this for a long time. He told me that the problem is that they also have a private relationship.

Vukov wants his place back in the team, which would of course be a disaster. He needs to get out of his life after all he's done.

I heard him screaming at her once in Australia. It's simply unacceptable. That's why I think it's a very good thing that the WTA protects the players.

The problem is that this happened because a lot of players don't dare say anything because they're afraid of the personal consequences such stories can have.

Despite this, things are generally improving, because society is tending to talk more openly about such things," Schett explains in an interview with Kicker.